Beyond the Door
by Aison Armigen
Summary: AU. Short fic of what happens after the Door of Light is found. Sum. of all char. Axel semicentric. EDIT: spoilers only for names, nothing more really. Quite odd really....


Truly don't know where this came from. I started typing and about an hour later looked up to see this. Odd.

Enjoy... I suppose.

KH, KH2, and all characters from it belong to Square-Enix.

(spoiler warning for KH2- if you haven't watched the videos and read Wikipedia's articles)

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As I stand before the Door of Light I wonder… I remember… what all happened to get me here. And the people along the way I came in contact with. Or, at least, I try to….

_Sora. Little spiky haired anomaly. Where are you now, I wonder? I can feel you close in heart. Did you find your light? Are you home? Are you happy? Complete?..._

_Riku. Man of dawn. Where are you, you who doesn't truly fit in anywhere. Have you stopped fighting as much? Are you happy? Have you found something to truly fight for, something that's worth it? Where are you now, my friend?_

_Kairi. Girl of light. We have never met, yet I've heard so much about you. Have you fought for what you believe in? Have you protected your loved ones as best you can? Can you say, now, that you did all you could?_

_Namine. Child of nothingness. Are you still lost, little one? Are you still clinging to any that turn their gaze to you? Have you found yourself? Have you found what you need to feel real? Are you done trying?_

_Roxas. Twilight's boy. Was remembering all you wanted? Was forgetting enough for you? Which, do you think now, was the better? Remembering what was lost, or forgetting your pain? Are you happy child? Have you something that one you wanted? Was it worth that pain you caused others?_

_Ansem. DiZ. Coward of a ruler and scientist. Walking away from the problem, standing by, is the same as committing the act. You are as much at fault as they are. Have you redeemed yourself? Have you given up on trying? Revenge is not all it is cracked up to be. _

_Xehanort. Delusional mundane. You can't pretend to be someone worth something. You can't imagine yourself into greatness. You will fall. And you did. Was it fun while it lasted jackass?_

_Xemnas. A Nobody with an ego trip. You were never him. And you will never be complete. You claim to have created everything. In turn you have destroyed everything. Are you happy? You ruined it all. You destroyed things that can never be brought back, never fixed. Did it make sense to you, all those things? Did you believe it was right? Did you think it was the only way? I hate you, false prophet._

_Larxene. Bitch and a half. Have you found yourself someone? You deserved someone to make you happy, even after everything. Are you okay where you are? Have you forgotten everything?_

_Marluxia. Threatening protector. I miss your presence. You kept me on guard. You were like me. Did you survive, my friend? Did you finally get what we all long for?_

_Zexion. Consisting cloud. You always spied, always bombarded my mind with fog and sleep. Do you still hate me for me "taking" him? Do you still wish to know what they saw in me? Have you survived? I remember you being so small in my mind, so vulnerable. Was that because I hurt you?_

_Vexen. Bastard scientist. You tormented me, raided my sanctuary, threatened my love. Yet I forgot all of it when I joined with… this. Is it forgetting, or forgiving? Have you lost your grudge against me? Against him? Do you still search for truth?_

_Xaldin. Sorrowful wanderer. All who knew you lived in fear yet the side you showed to me was nothing but respect and kindness. I never feared you. Was that false? Or was I truly a friend to you? What makes you happy? Did you find it?_

_Demyx. Lazy death. You could have killed me many times over, if you had tried more. Were you really lazy? Or didn't want to kill me? Who were your friends? What drove you?_

_Luxord. Waiting for the moment. You never really spoke to me but you followed all I said. But you also waited for the time to overthrow my hold. It never came did it? And you ended up forgetting… or did you? Where did you go after?_

_Xigbar. Reluctant associate. Smart remarks were all you said to me. You seemed to hate me. Because I was young? Because I was a female? Because of my holds on it and him and others? Or just because I was me? Were you there that day? Or did you leave before it even started?_

_Saix. Rival to him. Perhaps it was because you were so like me that I disliked you. Does your strength equal your sorrow I wonder?_

_Lexaeus. I would not be here if not for you. I murdered you, I did not know you, but I can truly give thanks for these gifts bestowed from you, whether or not you consented to it. Where did you go, when you died?_

I pause in my thoughts. Look at the door that's waiting for me. But I stare blankly. What is a door, after everything I've gone through? Why should I hurry my fate? Let me have my memories.

_Axel. My fiery love. (A memory of him smiling sweetly)_

I gasp. My throat closes.

_Axel. If you had never came… If I had never met you… I would be at home, normal and miserable. But I would have felt no pain. _

I clutch at my throat, struggle to take in a breath. It doesn't come.

_Axel… But the truth is, I wouldn't have felt any pain because I was numb to the world. I was incomplete. I couldn't feel pain or sorrow or joy. Or love. I just walked around, empty inside, missing something I had never seen, for what could have been forever. But you came._

My knees give out, I fall forward onto my hands. The air won't come. I stare at the snow in front of my face, at the bottom of the door. Is that how it's going to be- I will die anyway, even if I don't open the door….

_Axel. You completed me. And I you. And we were not Nobodies, and we were not lost, anymore. As long as the other was there._

I was numb again, this time both inside because of all that happened and outside where the lack of oxygen was depriving my body of fresh blood pumping through my veins. I slumped sideways. Why don't I just open the damn door now? It doesn't matter. I'm going to die. I have nothing left. No one. And the door needs to be open, for balance. And I'm all that's left… now.

_Axel. (memory of him in front of, a blast of energy catching him in the chest, him disappearing) _

My vision blurs.

_Axel. My love. Why…? You killed me more deeply by this. I would have rathered the blast. I would have rathered death. _

My eyelids are too heavy. I've given up on air.

_Axel….. I… love you…._

I grab my keyblade, concentrating energy there so I can hold onto it until I'm done. I am not selfish. All that I loved was gone, but I would not condemn the world.

_Axel._

Laying weakly all I could do was point it at the door and hope for the best. I closed my eyes.

_Where did you go, when you died?_

A click, then a flood of warm washed over me. I felt myself losing consciousness. Suddenly the warm turned burning, flames, acid, my flesh was scorching. I was burning, melting to death. And this was how I would die? How ironic. I gulped a breath and screamed the pain away. The burning faded. The pain throbbed and stayed. I shivered in the snow. I felt nothing.

_Axel… I miss you…. My love, my life. Can we… meet again?_

I stared blankly, my vision seeing nothing but gray.

"Yes."

I closed my eyes. My memory, my mind. Tricks. No more. _Let me die. I'm ready. I'm done. _

"Don't leave. Not yet. Not without me."

_My ears are open, imaginative figment._

"Is your heart as well? You asked if we could meet again. Not you don't seem like you want it."

_You're dead. Stop it. You're hurting me._

"I'm not dead. Or… at least I'm not now. I was nothing, not just Nobody for awhile. Then I was inside this door, waiting. Then it opened."

_What, if I open the door I get a wish? Then I die? Nice setup._

"Not a wish. Just… someone incomplete must come here. Pure in their sorrow. An uncorrupted being with a keyblade. Once the door opens, they are given what would make them complete."

_You._

"Me."

I still couldn't see anything. Is he was here, why wasn't he by me, comforting me?

"I can't. Look up… please."

This was killing me. It couldn't be teasing, it couldn't be a ruse. It was him. But my body was pushed beyond its limits and wanted to rest forever. I couldn't move. Couldn't even lift my head.

"Please."

I couldn't resist him. I never could. I twitched my head; pain erupted and ran through my body. I screamed. I heard him choke back a cry. I concentrated on the numbness flowing through me, concentrated on the gray in front of me, and inch by inch, pain stricken and overwhelmed, I lifted my head.

Axel stood within the door, a wall of flames holding him there. I laughed and immediately choked and coughed blood, pain causing my body to convulse.

He was there, but stuck? A way to say completeness is always beyond our grasp?

"No! No… Just… can you come over here?... A-" He looked down.

Three feet. My body would fail me in one at most.

"I love you."

I blinked. A spark lit in the numbness of my being. Axel. Axel. He was… right there. Right within my reach. If I only went to him.

(memory of a female voice speaking while a flame dances in front of vision: "If you can't do this, you can't do anything.")

I looked at Axel across the short distance, almost level. He seemed in shock. I had risen from sheer will.

_If I can't do this…_

A step.

_If I can't do this…_

Organs were shutting down. Bones were showing through my skin. I was going to die, whether I got there or not. But for Axel…

_If I can't do this…_

I was at the fire. I looked at my love. He was crying. I was numb. I stared at him. Yet that spark screamed at me to take him in my arms, to love him like I always have, and always would. I looked down at the snow.

_If I can't do this… _

Compassion. That was within humanity's grasp yet few reached out. It proved love, it proved friendship, mercy, and sacrifices.

"…So you would live… so you would continue on…. That's why… I thought…"

Compassion founded love. And love was all. Love was the missing piece, love was all we had, when everything else was gone.

_If I can't do this… I don't deserve to live._

I fell through the flames reaching out for him. My arms closed around him, my head rested on his shoulder; his arms closed around me and supported me.

I smelled mint.

There was no pain. All wounds were healed. I was fine.

"…And heaven's not enough, if when I get there I don't remember you." He softly sang.

His deep green eyes looked at me.

"I don't know where I was. I don't know even if I was. But it doesn't matter. You're all that does. You're my life. I want to be where you are, always."

_Life? Alive._

"Alive. Life again. A rebirth. A fresh start. A new chance at what we could have."

What we could have? What did that matter? I didn't want to have anything other than this man in my arms. Life, love, death, apathy. All pale in comparison truly. Words cannot hold up to what your soul calls for.

I didn't know where I was. I had no food, no water, or shelter. I didn't know what would happen after this. What there was left to do.

But I didn't care. How could I?

I was complete. I was in love. I was being held by the most wonderful being to my knowledge.

Perfection.

Let me stay here. This is my heaven. This is my eternity.

"I love you too."

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